Georgia bowler follows in footsteps at Open Championships
Murray, a 50-year-old right-hander, capped off his trip to the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., with a 656 singles effort Monday and added 610 in team and 584 in doubles for a 1,850 all-events total. Jim Shara of Endicott, N.Y., previously held the lead with 1,837.
"This the first time I've ever done anything at this tournament, and I think a lot of it was luck," said Murray, who also moved into a tie for seventh place in Classified Singles. "I just hit the right spot and the pins kept falling. Anytime you get breaks like that, you've got a chance to do well."
This year marked Murray's fifth consecutive appearance at the Open Championships, and he posted career-high scores in every event on the way to the top of the leaderboard. He recently joined a PBA Experience league to stay sharp for the upcoming winter league season and said he prefers bowling on tougher lane conditions when he can.
"This really is something else," said Murray, who teamed up with Lomax for a seventh place finish in Classified Doubles last year in Corpus Christi, Texas, but bowled with Lomax's father Bennie this year. "I just come to have a good time and never thought about coming out here to win a title. I had a ball this week overall, and this makes the whole trip even more worthwhile."
Presenting sponsors for the 2007 USBC Open Championships are Eldorado, Silver Legacy and Circus Circus Hotel/Casinos in Reno, Nev. Other participating sponsors are Kegel, official lane maintenance provider, Sands Regency Casino and Hotel, official brackets sponsor and supporting sponsors Atlantis Casino Resort and Spa and Harrah's Casino and Hotel.
By Matt Cannizzaro and David Ellis USBC Communications